Consumer Investment Funds for Attending Medical

Although AMCSI doesn’t charge an admissions fee to its annual convention like many conferences do, we know and understand travel and lodging can be expensive so in an effort to assist people to come to the conventions we’ve have looked up every state’s Developmental Disabilities Council (DDC.)

(AMCSI Researched other National Non Profit Disability related conventions and found the average cost to attend their conventions is around $150 to $500)

Please note when the city and hotel are being picked for convention cost is something we consider extensively. AMCSI Board of Directors receives no compensation for time and we pay for our own travel, lodging, food etc. at convention.

Many DDC’s provide grants to help families defray the cost of attending conference’s related to their or their child’s disability. Every single state has a DDC but not every state’s DDC has the funds to have such a grant program. In the states that do have such funds these funds are often called Consumer Investment Funds, Consumer Empowerment Funds, Family Support Funds or Educations Funds.

Below we’ve have listed a link to every state’s DDC. If that state has a fund to provide funds to attend conferences a link to the grants application or regulations is also listed. If your state does not have a link to a grant this does NOT mean they don’t have one it simply means it may not be listed on their website or we couldn’t locate it. PLEASE directly contact your state’s DDC and inquire if they have a fund to help families/ individuals attend conferences/ conventions. If the DDC does not have such a fund/ grant ask if they know of any non-profits or other governmental agencies that do provide such grants.

These grants usually come with LOTS of RED TAPE so read the fine print and apply VERY early. This red tape is very manageable if you start the application process early and keep in communication with the appropriate persons at your DDC. Don’t be discouraged.

As I was reading through these sites I noticed some common threads that go along with these grants. I will list some of them so you’re aware as you’re reading your states grant information.

Some grants will NOT allow the child to come unless you prove that their attendance is welcomed and needed. (Let AMCSI know if you need proof of this Some require that you match the amount of money they give or prove you’ve looked for funding in other places. Most of these grants do NOT require you to prove income Most of these grants will pay for out-of-state conferences and convention The standard seems to be that they’ll pay $500 for in-state conventions/ conferences and up to $1200 for out of state. Read the fine print as to what they’ll pay for within the trip, some will pay for transportation, some pay for tips but most don’t, some will only pay the conference/ convention registration fee which we do NOT charge so you may have to argue your case to get them to pay for the other expense incurred. Most will NOT give you the money before you attend, they will reimburse you up to the grant amount awarded with proof of purchase so save your receipts! If you’re on SSI or SSDI most have a process that you can go through to get the money before you attend. Most of these grants require some work on your part AFTER the convention/ conference. These grants are usually granted with the hope that the knowledge you gain at this conference/ convention will help the state somehow. Some require you to write about your experience, do projects based on what you learned, or be active in state disability issues. These projects post convention really vary so be aware of your obligations before you accept the money If you need ANY information about convention that hasn’t been made public that is vital to your application for a grant PLEASE do NOT hesitate to contact our convention committee (florida@amcsupport.org) or the AMCSI Board of Directors (bod@amcsupport.org)

The following states (that we are aware of) have provided funds to families to attend AMCSI conventions in the past.

Ohio, Idaho, Arizona, Louisiana, Kentucky

1. Alabama http://acdd.org/

Consumer Involvement Fund: http://www.acdd.org/content.asp?id=202945

2. Alaska http://www.hss.state.ak.us/gcdse/

There was no specific link to a consumer investment/ empowerment fund listed on this DDC website. This doesn’t mean there isn’t such a fund. Contact the council directly and inquire if they have any available grants to help families and individuals with disabilities attend conferences related to the person’s disability. Click the “Contact US” button.

3. Arizona http://www.azcdd.org

4. Arkansas - http://www.ddcouncil.org/index.html

5. California- http://www.scdd.ca.gov

Info on California’s grant: http://www.scdd.ca.gov/programs_projects/RevisedSponsorshipPolicy2004.pdf

6. Colorado - http://www.coddc.org

7. Connecticut - http://www.state.ct.us/ctcdd/

8. Delaware - http://ddc.delaware.gov

9. Florida - http://www.fddc.org

10. Georgia - http://www.gcdd.org

11. Hawaii - http://www.hiddc.org

12. Idaho - http://www.state.id.us/icdd/index.htm

Idaho’s grant fund: http://www.icdd.idaho.gov/applic.aspx#funding

13. Illinois - http://www.dd.illinois.gov

14. Indiana - http://www.in.gov/gpcpd

Indiana’s Consumer Investment Fund: http://www.in.gov/gpcpd/2328.htm

15. Iowa - http://idaction.com/

16. Kansas - http://www.kcdd.org

17. Kentucky - http://chfs.ky.gov/kcdd/

Kentucky’s Consumer Involvement Fund: http://chfs.ky.gov/kcdd/cif.htm

18. Louisiana - http://www.laddc.org

19. Maine http://www.maineddc.org

20. Maryland - http://www.md-council.org

Conference Participation Fund: http://www.md-council.org/funding/conference.html

21. Massachusetts - http://www.state.ma.us/mddc

Council Empowerment Fund: http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=afterminalandL=6andL0=HomeandL1=Employment%2c+Equal+Access%2c+DisabilityandL2=Disability+Information+and+ResourcesandL3=Developmental+Disabilities+InformationandL4=Citizen+EmpowermentandL5=Grants+for+Individualsandsid=Eoafandb=terminalcontentandf=mddc_empowerment_fundandcsid=Eoaf

22. Michigan - http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-132-2941_4868_4897---,00.html

23. Minnesota - http://www.mnddc.org

24. Mississippi http://www.cdd.ms.gov/index.html

25. Missouri - http://www.mpcdd.com

26. Montana http://www.mtcdd.org

27. Nebraska - http://www.hhs.state.ne.us/ddplanning/

28. New Hampshire - http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/add/states/stnh.html

29. Nevada - http://www.nevadaddcouncil.org

30. New Jersey http://www.njddc.org/index.htm

31. New Mexico - http://www.nmddc.com

In-State Conference Fund: http://www.nmddpc.com/projects-and-rfps#RFI_S

32. New York - http://ddpc.state.ny.us/

Grants from DDC NY: http://www.ddpc.state.ny.us/pages/bl_attending_conferences.htm (maybe in-state only, call and ask!)

33. North Carolina - http://www.nc-ddc.org

34. North Dakota http://www.ndcpd.org/proj/uapdis/home.html/

35. Ohio - http://www.ohio.gov/ddc

Does NOT have a fund any more

36. Oklahoma http://www.state.ok.us/~okddc/

Consumer Involvement Fund: http://www.state.ok.us/~okddc/pdf/consumer_involvement_fund_brochure.pdf

37. Oregon - http://www.ocdd.org

38. Pennsylvania ‪- http://www.paddc.org

39. Rhode Island - http://www.riddc.org

40. South Carolina - http://www.scddc.state.sc.us

41. South Dakota - http://www.state.sd.us/dhs/ddc/

42. Tennessee ‪- http://www.state.tn.us/cdd/

Consumer Travel Grant: http://www.state.tn.us/cdd/consumertravelgrant.html

43. Texas - http://www.txddc.state.tx.us

44. Utah - http://www.gcpd.org

Empowerment Fund: http://utahddc.org/grants/empowerment/index.html

45. Vermont - http://www.ahs.state.vt.us/vtddc/

46. Virginia - http://www.vaboard.org

47. Washington http://www.ddc.wa.gov/

48. West Virginia http://www.wvddc.org

49. Wisconsin http://www.wcdd.org

50. Wyoming - http://ddcouncil.state.wy.us/

Have we missed something? If a link is incorrect or you find a link to a grant in your state we don’t have listed here. Please share with us! If your state has a grant but no link online, please share with us that your state has such a grant and who people should contact for further info. Your willingness to share information will enable other people to participate in convention that without grants otherwise may not have been able to. We THANK YOU in advance.

DISCLAIMER: This information was complied by AMCSI. This information is provided as a courtesy and AMCSI does not guarantee its accuracy in anyway. Please contact your state’s Developmental Disabilities Council for more information on funding. Furthermore, AMCSI does not guarantee funding will be given by your state’s DDC even if they have a consumer investment/ involvement/ empowerment fund. Each individual family and persons are responsible for their travel, lodging, and food expenses related to attending AMCSI’s 5^th Annual Convention.

AMCSI can be reached at BOD@amcsupport.org